A Seattle-born pop artist finds all that glitters is not gold

For Seattle-born artist Jean Wells, all that glitters ...is made with mosaic glass. Wells has a national reputation for larger than life pop art pieces.

Author:
Saint Bryan , KING

Published:
10:34 AM PDT August 21, 2014

Updated:
10:34 AM PDT August 21, 2014

SEATTLE - For Seattle-born artist Jean Wells, all that glitters ...is made with mosaic glass.

"I don't know how to cook that well. " Jean said in the kitchen of a houseboat , "But I do know how to make fake food."

Jean's made a name for herself sculpting giant versions of junk food, including a six foot wide hot dog, a six foot tall coke bottle and an 18 foot tall Hershey's Kiss --so big four couples have been married inside one.

Jean got her start, here in Seattle, at the age of 12 working alongside her father Thomas Winchester Wells who created the celebrated "Madonna and Child" apse at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church.

"My dad would bring home a lot of the mosaics and I'd work on 12 by 12 squares", Wells said.

Now Jean is herself a celebrated artist whose fun, larger-than-life works can be seen in both galleries and museums.

"People tend to respond by laughing," Wells said. " 'What is the artist thinking' is the most often asked question. I'm thinking of taking very mundane items and making them spectacular."